Hetalia Horror
by CandiedSardines
Summary: It's a scene straight out of Japanese horror! Set in the Gakuen Hetalia Universe, our boys are being tormented by something of a curse! What's going on? Who caused it! And who can stop it? [Rated M for safety!]
1. It Begins

Ludwig's eyes opened slowly.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, only the thick, black night greeted him. His whole body was heavy with sleep, almost numb, and noticed he was still wearing his school uniform as he moved to stretch is stiff muscular frame. He mentally cursed himself for wearing it to bed. Now it would have to be ironed in the morning instead of before bed. Extra steps in the morning always tested his patience. Ludwig dropped his arms back on the bed, not yet willing to move. Slowly the night dissolved into faint outlines of his spinning fan as he continued gazing up at the ceiling. He never could sleep without white noise. Shifting over onto his side he sighed and looked around his room, wondering what had woken him up. His desk sat near his bedroom door, with several neat stacks of homework, school work, and studying sitting on top just waiting to be filed away. He sighed. That was what he was going to do before bed. File away his papers in the nearby filing cabinet, iron his uniform, _then_ he would ready himself for bed. As he restructured his morning in his head, he sat up and reached for his cellphone nearby, tapping the power button to wake it up. 3:21 am. 55 missed messages.

...55?

Concerned, he unlocked it quickly and felt his blood run cold. He was greeted by the same message from the same person. Over and over and over and over. "help me" The most recent one from only a few minutes ago. Why!? Why hadn't he woken up?! He clicked the volume and groaned. Silent mode. It didn't even vibrate.

He scrolled to the top to see when the first message was sent. 11:20 pm. He was beginning to feel sick. "Feliciano..." he whispered, pressing the call button and pressing the phone to his ear. He couldn't help but bite his lower lip nervously, as he waited through each ring.

Suddenly he heard a slow, breathless and muffed "hello?" "Feliciano! Where are you? What's the matter?! Why did you send me so many messages!?" He shouted quickly, communicating more anger than the concern he really felt. "I'm sorry..." the boy on the other side said softly. He sounded exhausted, and his voice was strained and cracking, "Do you have to buy minutes? I didn't mean to use them all..." Ludwig rolled his eyes. "No, Feliciano, it's not that." he said, more calmly, "You've sent me 55 messages in nearly 6 hours. Please, tell me what's the matter. I'm... concerned." "Oh, ...well... you didn't answer so I thought that maybe he had..." Ludwig could almost feel the anxiety from normally happy, loud and friendly Feliciano. He had known Feli his whole life, and knew this was someone who could smile in the worst of times. Now he sounded different. Legitimately upset. Feliciano was hiding something. Something was deadly wrong.

Ludwig felt sick again.

"I-I-I was wondering if we could have a sleepover." Feliciano finally stammered. "A sleepover at your house. Just the two of us!" He was straining to sound cheerful, but the fear in his voice overwhelmed his pitiful attempts to hide it. Ludwig let out a long breath he didn't realize he was holding in. A sleepover? It was Wednesday. At 3 in the morning. And Feliciano was asking of all things. If his friend wanted to stay overnight with him, he would invite himself, more often than not crawling into Ludwig's bed as he slept. "Feli, why are you asking? You never do anyway," he let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, I... I was wondering if you could come and get me?" Feliciano's voice sounded muffled as if he was surrounded by... "Feli? Are you hiding in your closet?" The Italian was quiet for a moment before saying quietly, "It's my brother... he's... um..." he suddenly went very quiet, taking a quick breath and holding it. Ludwig could hear heavy footsteps in the background. "Feli," Ludwig breathed, "Feli tell me what's going on, please."

The footsteps stopped nearby. He could hear the phone shaking in Feliciano's hand as he desperately clung to it, holding it up to his ear. "Hurry." Feliciano whispered, almost inaudibly before the call went dead.

Barely a moment passed before Ludwig registered what had happened and him running out of his bedroom. He hurried down his now annoyingly long hallway to the stairs, stomping down them quickly and slipped on his shoes. His brother appeared, half awake at the top of the stairs just as he slammed the door behind him. "Luddy?"

'It must have rained...'

Ludwig ran as fast as he could the near mile to the Italian brother's ground floor apartment. The air was sharp and cold and Lud was breathing hard as puddles splashed loudly under him, splattering his legs with dirty water and mud. He didn't even think about his uniform anymore. He just had to get to Feli. Lud ran 2 miles a day normally, 5 or 10 on weekends with his brother, so such a distance wasn't a problem, but he was drenched in a nervous sweat when he arrived at the gate to their walkway. Feliciano shared the apartment with his older brother, Lovino, who attended college while he and Ludwig were still Juniors in high-school. The apartment was dark, with only little solar lights glowing around the lush tomato garden that was nestled around their small porch. The single window that faced the garden from the living-room had it's curtains drawn, making it impossible to see inside. The gate opened with a long screech as he pushed his way through, loud enough to wake the dead. And alert Feliciano apparently, as he dashed out the front door, turned quickly to lock the door, then took a running leap at Ludwig. "Lud! Luddy!" He cried out, burying his face in Ludwig's broad chest. Ludwig wrapped his arms protectively around his friend, holding him tight as Feli clung to him desperately.

Feliciano was shaking so badly his teeth were chattering. His breathing was rapid as his arms seemed to squeeze Lud tighter. "Feli..." Ludwig said softly, petting Feliciano's hair gently. He couldn't help but smile with relief. He glanced up, and realized with a start that Lovino was now standing in the dark window, gazing at them, unblinking with wide eyes and an emotionless face. The normally sharply dressed man's hair was wild and dirty looking and his face and shirt smeared with something black. His normally olive colored skin was so very pale, he could have been painted white. His dark eyes seemed jet black. He couldn't see any white at all. "Feli, your brother..." Feliciano jumped, gasping loudly. Without looking back, he grabbed Ludwig's hand and began dragging him out of the small yard with a strength Ludwig didn't know Feliciano possessed, his eyes set dead ahead of him. "Feli! Your brother! Something's wrong!" Ludwig couldn't look away from the figure in the window. Lovino hadn't moved at all. He hadn't even blinked. Something black was beginning to trickle out of the corner of his mouth.

As they pushed through the gate and started down the street, Ludwig pulled his hand away from his friend and grabbed Feliciano by the shoulders. "Your brother is sick! Why are you leaving him!" Feliciano wouldn't look him in the eye, choosing instead to look over Ludwig's shoulder at the unsettling figure in the window. "Brother is in Italy with Grandpa." He said calmly. "I have no idea who that is."

A/N~~~~~

Spooky stories are my specialty, and I can't tell you how much I love tormenting Hetalia characters. More to come!


	2. There You Are

Kiku hadn't left his apartment in 3 days. In that time he had gotten no less than 83 text messages from his best friend, 30 calls, 15 emails, and now, one visit. Alfred wore a starter jacket over his school uniform, heavy protection from the cold wind of an early fall morning. It didn't help that it rained last night, making the air that much more chilled. He backpack was slung over one shoulder, heavier than usual. 'Probably because I'm not awake...' Alfred thought wearily. He had woken up extra early today and rode the bus clear across town to find out what was up with his friend. He was incredibly worried, but football practice had kept him away for almost two days. But now he stood outside Kiku's small apartment, banging on the door and ringing the doorbell the same time. "Kiiiiiiiiku!" he shouted, "Open uuuuup or I'll never stop!" He kept it up for an impressive 10 minutes before threats to call the cops were thrown out his neighbor's windows. "Fine! Fine!" he shouted back, grumbling as he pulled out his keys from his back pocket and slipped Kiku's key into the lock. He wasn't really supposed to have it. It was actually the spare Kiku left on top of his door, but the boy was too short to reach it alone so it was pretty useless to him. So Alfred had kept it. Just in case.

The door swung open easily as Alfred looked in. The place was darker than he'd ever seen it. The curtains were all drawn like normal, but there were blankets thrown over the curtain rods, effectively blacking out all the light. There was an eerie silence that was unsettling to Alfred; he couldn't even hear the hum of air conditioning even though the place was unnaturally cold, even for a cool autumn morning like this. He felt a sharp chill that made him jump as he walked over the thresh hold and into the darkness. "Kiku?" he called weakly.

He dropped his back to the ground outside the door and took a few steps forward before he cursed and turned back, slipping his shoes off by the door. Maybe Kiku wouldn't notice the mud? He slipped on the guest slippers and made his way back in, propping the door open all the way with one of his shoes to let in some light. "Kiku?" he called, louder than before. "Are you even here?" Alfred slowly made his way down the entry way to the kitchen's archway, reaching inside and groping the wall blindly for the light switch. After a few seconds, it was finally found and flipped quickly. Nothing. He flipped it up and down and few times, praying for a miracle, before groaning and turning around to the front door again. He made his way back to his bag and opened the front pocket, pulling out a small flashlight.

He turned it on and pointed it down the hallway, catching a glimpse of a shadow low to the ground, dashing soundlessly around the corner towards Kiku's room. "Huh? Kiku?!" He stood quickly and rushed after it. He skid to a stop, almost tripping over his slippers when he made it to the corner. When he pointed the flashlight towards Kiku's room, he only saw it as it should be, the door shut. 'But... I didn't hear it close, and there's no other doors.' He thought reaching for the light switch for the hall and flipping it. Nothing. "What?" He groaned, flipping it up and down. Was the power out? Maybe Kiku really isn't here? He sighed, trudging down the hall to Kiku's bedroom. He might as well check, since he came all this way.

The icy cold door knob almost burned as he turned it and pushed the door open with a long, ominous creek. He moved the flashlight around a bit, over a messy twin bed, a couple bookcases full of anime dvds and piles of manga, Kiku's bitchin' dual monitor PC set-up, and... something caught his eye. A large black puddle was in the middle of the room. "Blood?!" he gasped, walking over quickly. He pointed his flashlight down at it and squatted down. It really looked black, not red at all. He touched it, then drew his hand back quickly. It had the consistency of cold honey. Not nearly as delicious looking. Looking at it, the puddle turned into a smear leading towards the bed. He crouched down and pointed the flashlight underneath.

Dead black eyes glared back at him. It looked like a hideous woman, with long black tangled hair like someone had poured ink over her head. Her naked body was hideously pale, almost completely white and her long painfully thin limbs were twisted around in front of her looking almost broken as she began scrambling forward, reaching for Alfred. As her mouth opened, revealing black rotten teeth, more thick black liquid poured out spilling all over the floor.

Alfred stared in horror as she moved, his body paralyzed as everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Even still she moved impossibly fast. As her twisted bony hand reached out he kicked it away and turned trying to scramble back but tripping over his damned slipper. He picked himself up quickly but felt her grab his other slipper, making him trip again and slamming his head into the door behind him. Not wasting a second, he reached up and grabbed the doorknob, turning it and flinging himself inside in moments. Moments was all he had and the monster flung itself against the door and stuck it's disgusting fingers underneath, the black and green nails on it's fingers flaking off from the violence. Alfred stumbled backwards, shaking harder than he ever had, trying to point the flashlight towards the monster but instead the beam flew wildly about. The back of his knees hit the toilet and he fell with a cry onto the seat. He wrapped his arms around himself and began rocking back and forth. "Oh God... Oh God..." he mumbled, tears beginning to fall silently down his face.

A thin hand suddenly grabbed his jacket.

He screamed and smacked it away, falling off the toilet and moving quickly across the floor until he hit the opposite wall. He pointed the flashlight at the thing, trying to prepare himself. When the beam fell on the bathtub, he saw his dear friend hanging over the side, one reaching out to him. He looked like he'd been beaten within and inch of his life, his yukata torn and dirty all over and hanging off one shoulder, and some of the black liquid was coming out of his nose and the corner of his mouth mixing with blood. "Kiku!" he shouted, rushing over scooping up Kiku, cradling him in his arms.

"Alfred...Alfred," Kiku said weakly, clinging to him tightly, burying his face against Alfred's neck. "Oh Alfred, you should not have come." Alfred felt hot tears on his neck as Kiku began to sobbing. "Don't worry, Kiku. You don't have to worry." he said nervously, staring at the door. The attack had stopped. "We-We're gonna get out of here. I just have to go down the hall and out the door. I left it open and everything..." He lifted the smaller boy up easily as he moved towards the door. It was quiet again. Alfred shifted around until he could hold up Kiku with one arm and the flashlight with the other. "Okay..." he whispered softly. "Hold on.." Kiku's grip tightened as Alfred flung open the door, the flashlight illuminating a digusting smear of black across the floor... leading out into the hall. "Shit.." Alfred said slowly. He carefully made his way to the pitch black hall, the smear disappeared into the carpet half way to the corner. He took a deep breath, and began walking forward. As he came up to the turn he realized, "I left the door open... Why is it so dark...?" He looked down towards the door and was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.

It was closed. And right in front of it was the monster. Waiting.

Alfred turned quickly as Kiku screamed, but this time he wasn't fast enough. He felt it's crushing grip on his ankle, it's disgusting fingernails digging into his flesh. He dropped the flashlight as he fell, the light blinking out and plunging them into darkness once more. As the monster tore into Alfred, all he heard was Kiku's screams from beneath him.

A/N~~~~

Nooo Alfred! Is he dead?! ... is he?


	3. Who Understands Fashion Anyway?

Matthew wrapped his arms around his shoulders, rubbing up and down to ward off the sharp cold of the cool twilight and it's unforgiving breeze. He stood nervously outside the school's football field looking sorely out of place, watching the players wrap up their practice. Harsh stadium light shone on his blond, wavy hair sticking out from under his dark red knit beanie, ruffling slightly in the wind as he adjusted the matching wool scarf over the white and red "O CANADA" hoodie he wore over his slim frame, hoping to possibly shield him from the wind. He'd forgotten the gloves at home, leaving his fingers feeling numb. One of the players caught sight of him and waved; the older boy's short silver hair, now dirtied with mud from practice, ruffling as he began running over to him. Matthew offered a short wave back, then nervously looked down at the patchy grass and tapped the toe of his worn sneakers into the ground. It was always awkward talking to his brother's friends. Red eye's glinted as the older boy trudged up to Matthew and playfully punched his smaller shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards. "Hey, Tim Horton!" Matthew regained his balance quickly looked down nervously, the glare of the light off his wire frame glasses obscuring his eyes. "Gilbert. Good to see you again." Gilbert let out an obnoxious laugh and threw his arm around Matthew's shoulders, pulling him close and covering his once clean white sleeve with dark brown mud. "Um, Gi-Gil? My clothes..." "So, little buddy!" Gilbert started, ignoring Matthew's protests, "You here to give me Al's excuse for skipping practice?"

Alfred didn't come to school today.

He had left early this morning, before Matthew was completely out of bed. "I've gotta find Kiku." he had answered when Matthew demanded who he was and what had he done with his lazy brother. Kiku hadn't been to school in a few days, apparently, and wasn't answering any messages Alfred had sent. "He's probably wrapped up in a new game or something from Japan. It's no fair! He's not even sharing! I'm gonna drag him out of his tomb, whither he likes it or not." Alfred had declared, before laughing in his out obnoxious way and dashing out to catch the first bus. Matthew was left standing dumbly in the doorway, still waring his oversized gray sleep shirt and maple leaf boxers as he watched his brother dash off into the sunrise, fist raised. His brother was an idiot sometimes.

But he never made it to school. Not even practice apparently. "Actually I came to see if Al had ever come to practice. I guess not, eh?" he said softly, looking away from the softening face of the taller boy as he looked down at Matthew. "What?" Gilbert said, pulling back from him and crossing his arms over his bulky football uniform. He wore a confused frown now. "He hasn't like, texted or anything? Dude's always attached to his phone; though, he mostly only plays Candy Crush." Matthew stepped away too, putting a little distance between them and began brushing at the dirt and mud. "He left early this morning to go check on his friend, and I thought I'd meet him back here. We share the same lunch period and I noticed he wasn't with his usual group so I thought I'd come out here and see if maybe-" Gilbert slapped his back so hard he choked. "Come on dude! He totally skipped! We I get my hands on him I'm so gonna punch that pretty face of his." Gilbert illustrated his point by crashing his fist into his other open hand. "We have a game next week! Missing practice is so unawesome!" "Yeah," Matthew gasped, still recovering. "Well, as captain of this team, let him know I won't stand for this!" the older boy laughed, walking away from Matthew to rejoin his team. "I'll let him know!" Matthew called back weakly, watching him meet them. As he turned to walk away, he heard roaring laughter.

The setting sun took it's warmth with it, pulling his arms closer and burying his hands in the hoodie's pockets digging for warmth. Next time gloves for sure. His time away from Canada had made him weak to the cold. 50 degrees with a light breeze would have been a spring afternoon, not a miserable walk home. He moped, glancing at his sleeves sporting new mud stains from Gilbert's brutal hugs. "Meatheads..." he mumbled.

As he turned to look ahead of him again, a sudden gust of wind blew a wet plastic bag into his face. "GAH!" he gasped, clawing at it violently, both shocked and disgusted by the sudden affront by nature. After flailing about for a few seconds, he was finally free of the awful grocery bag and was wiping dirty street water off his nose. "Ugh," he groaned as he glanced around for something to check the damage. He walked quickly up to a nearby shop window, and stared in the dark glass. With their work day over the lights had been shut off and the store stood dark and empty, save for the admittedly eerie mannequins further into the store, obscured by the shadows modeling designer clothes on painfully thin, featureless bodies. None of them even had a face. Not a nose between them. Definitely creepy.

He brushed off a sudden chill and focused on his now uncomfortably chilled and dirty face instead. Wiping at his nose a bit with his dirty (thanks Gil) sleeve, he looked and felt a lot better. Sighing, he was about to turn away when he noticed a mannequin deeper in the store, standing deep in the shadows. Tall and thin, wearing a long white dress with a modern cut, it stood out. Not the dress but the model itself. The wig it wore was a long black mess covering it's face and reaching down it's back and it's clothes were splattered and smeared with a black liquid. More liquid was poured down the front of the dress, as if it had been vomited up. It wasn't even posed; it was just standing there in the shadows, facing the shop window with it's arms hanging limply at it's side. It's shoulders even looked slumped forward as if it was just standing there stupidly, staring back at him from under that long dark hair. _And it's... skin..._

He turned jogging down the street, hurrying to the nearby bus stop so he could finally warm up and get off this creepy street. "Modern art," he mumbled as the bus turned the corner, meekly glancing back at the creepy shop. He was relieved to see no ghosts were following him, not that it was something he'd ever admit. Stepping on and taking the first seat available, he made himself very comfortable by the window and plugged in his phone's earbuds, effectively blocking out the world. About 5 minutes into his ride, his phone buzzed and vibrated. He glanced down at it.

One new message from "ALFRED".

He bit back a groan as he opened the message. "Better prepare myself for _this_ excuse."

"ˆÅ‚Ö‚Æ'±‚ "¹"

"What?" He couldn't help but say it out loud, not that anyone was listening. He typed out a reply. "What? Don't mess with me. Where have you been?" He waited almost a minute after he sent it before he tried to call. A strange feeling was growing in his stomach. As the rings continued, a stop or two came and went. People moved off the bus, leaving him one of only four riding now. The sun set in the distance, taking the bright colors of twilight with it and plunging the world into a dark blue night.

Ring.

Ring.

Ri-

"Alfred!" he shouted with a mixture of frustration and relief. "What's going on?!"

The other side was quiet for a second, before he heard heavy breathing. In the background, he could swear he heard... crying. "Alfred?" As the last person shuffled off the bus, the line went dead. Alfred? He tried calling back, again and again, but the phone was off now, going straight to voicemail. "Hello! This is Alfred your friendly neighborhood hero! Leave an awesome message at the-" Matthew shifted nervously in his seat before sitting up straight and looking around out of restlessness.

He was alone. Not a soul was left on the bus, not even the driver, stranding him down a long unlit street he didn't even realize they had traveled down. The dim lights in the dirty city bus was all the light he had, as the headlights had been cut off before he had ever looked up. He tried to say something, anything, opening and closing his mouth he felt like a fish as small sounds squeaked out. "W,what... what..." was all he managed to say as he turned his head to the right and looked out his window.

It looked down a long dark alley, and there, steeped in black shadows, was that awful... hideous... mannequin. Shoulders slumped forward as her long thin body crept towards him, shuddering violently with each step as if in horrific pain, more of that awful black liquid began pouring down the front of her dress as she vomited it up loudly. No sounds at all came from Matthew now as he stared in absolute horror at the scene before him. She got only a few more steps in before he finally found his head, leaping up and running full speed down the aisle to the back of the bus. His hand shook violently as he struggled to grip the emergency release on the door, sweaty palms slipping off one or twice before tearing open the lock and flinging open the emergency door.

He ran down that long, dark street until he thought his lungs would burst, clinging to an electric utility pole as if it would save him from this nightmare. He glanced around frantically, desperately trying to find something familiar. Something that would point him home. He had never seen this part of town before. None of the buildings seemed to be functioning shops, just old empty buildings rotting away silently in the darkness. Faded, hand painted signs were here or there but despite his glasses, nothing he could read or even see very well in the frozen night. In the distance, he spied a single lit street lamp. Gathering the last bit of strength he had, Matthew ran as fast as he could to the light, staring into the yellowed bulb as he approached.

Standing in the dim, flickering glow and looking around, he realized there were no other lights. Nothing. For as far as he could see. Not even a glow over the buildings. Standing shock still, he could only stared. What was happening? What? What? What's going on? Questions flew though his mind a thousand per second. Why? Why me? Why is this happening? Whywhywhywhywhywhy-

Endless questions were cut short as he heard a familiar sound behind him; shuffling of feet, the drip and splatter of flowing liquid. He couldn't stop himself. He wasn't even thinking. He turned and looked back at his tormentor. Only a few feet behind him, standing completely still and wrapped in shadows, glassy black eyes opened wide stared back at him from underneath that thick black hair. Her mouth gaping as she loudly vomited nauseating black bile. A single, hideous hand raised and reached out for him. The long broken and twisted nails were black and green, skin gray and hanging unnaturally. He whimpered, stumbling backwards and falling to the ground. He tried and move himself away but he legs just wouldn't move properly. The mannequin followed him to the ground, crawling over to him in a gross jerking fashion until she was on top of him, looking down as her bile flowed down the sides of his face as he looked up in shock. As the light above him flickered out, he felt an icy cold hand suddenly grasp his face.

A/N~~~~

Matthew~! What a sweetie cake. Too bad he had to meet such a terrible fate~!

I've always been slightly afraid of mannequins. Not "it's gonna get me" scared. No, that fear is reserved exclusively for a particular fear I have about mirrors...

I'm trying to tie these stories together, in case that needs to be said. These stories are taking place right after each other. Feli at night, Alfred in the morning and now Matthew the next night. But with Kiku a few days before... I'm gonna hit as many characters as I can, or at least the ones I think I can write. I'm not gonna post a list because I'd like it to be a surprise but I guarantee Feli is coming back and he's bringing his (real) brother with him! Also Gilbert! Yay!

Some editing might need to be done to previous chapters, as all of these are being written coming off 14 hour shifts and on like 6 hours of sleep. hahahahahaahaaaa I'll be sure to put a notice in an A/N when I do.


	4. Armani Can't Save You Now

Freezing rain poured down around Kiku as he ran through the dense forest; thick muddy water splashed up his legs, dirtying his once beautiful light blue yukata, now tattered and ugly and it's tie lost somewhere far behind him. His grandfather had sent it to him as a New Years present and as a simple reminder of home. Home. Home was all he could think of as he ran, his naked feet numb from the cold leaving him unable to feel the rough ground below him, cutting and tearing into him and leaving crimson foot steps in his wake. He clung to Alfred's leather starter jacket, over-sized on him and wrapped around his shoulders. Still smelling of him, sweat and fresh-cut grass, and now more recently, the thick copper smell of blood. It made him nauseous; more than once he slowed to retch but it kept some of the rain at bay, allowing him to run faster than he would have otherwise. He was still incredibly cold, his teeth chattering loudly. Through the heavy rain, he couldn't see for more than some 20 feet in front of him, but the dawn's light still fought through bringing some color back into his brown and grey world. He couldn't slow down. He could only stare straight ahead and keep moving, no matter how much his body ached for rest. He couldn't stop, for every minute or so, just beside a tree he passed, a long white arm would reach out, leading back to a tangled mass of black hair. Grasping for him as he ran, panting hard and ragged. How long had he been running? How long could he _keep_ running...?

…...

All Lovino wanted was to go home. His plane landed pretty early that morning, in the large airport on the edge of town. He didn't get much sleep on the flight, even though his Grandpa paid for business class it wasn't exactly luxury. The seats were still crammed together and reclining was a joke. The first thing he did was recline the seat anyway and put on his rather expensive over-sized head phones, turning the volume all the way up to drown out some expensive suit whose lap he was practically laying in now and sucking himself into his own little world. The man next to him mumbled something nasty sounding in Russian, glancing back at him at his music blared loud enough for half the plane to enjoy. Good thing he didn't give a damn, or this brutal 55 hour flight might suck more than it need be.

After a layover in Paris, (he shivered involuntarily) they made it back to the states without incident, landing at home bright and early and dragging him out of the sleep he fought so hard for. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. 6:50 a.m. They were actually landing 10 minutes early. Of course with his luck, the plane would explode or something before he could step foot off it. Groggily he sat up and brushed at his maroon button up shirt trying to smooth it out a bit, now wrinkled from the ride. He grabbed his brand new leather Armani travel bag, his face blushing a hot red as he thought of how his Grandpa bought it for him as a goodbye present. Lovino fell in love with it the second he saw it when they walked by the window display in Rome. It was black, classic and understated, but with a modern flare. And it would definitely fit his 17.5 laptop. Grandpa said he looked like a little kid again, staring up at some great new toy. He normally wasn't so forth coming with the cash unless Feliciano was there to spend it on too, but he was eager to send him home with "something nice". He couldn't help the smile creeping it's way across his face as he made his way off the plane with the suits around him. Being such a great brother, he'd definitely let Feliciano have his old leather travel bag. It was last season... well, last year's but the little creep is 16. He's lucky it wasn't Louis Vuitton or something.

He'd barely stepped through the gate before his phone began buzzing. Annoyed momentarily, he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Feliciano, and he was calling five minutes beforehis plane was even supposed to land. "Veeee~ Brother I woke up late! And I crashed your car! And I'm still in bed with my macho freak show boyfriend! See you in a few hours!" he sneered to himself, mimicking Feliciano before answering the phone. "Hello?" he sighed, running his hand through his hair. Feli answered almost immediately. "Brother! I'm waiting for you in the men's bathroom! Your plane just landed right?" Lovino paused momentarily, surprised at his brother. It was ridiculously early for him to be sounding so chipper. He sounded cheerful like always but there was also something there he couldn't seem to put his finger on. Something seemed off.

"Uh yeah, I just stepped off. I guess I'll wait for you by baggage?" Lovino sighed, adjusting the bag on his shoulder and starting for the check point nearby. "No, I need to see you! Please come to the bathroom." He could practically hear the smile on his brother's face. Lovino snorted a laugh. "What? Did you have an accident?" That got a laugh out of him, quieter than normal though. Bingo. Lovino snorted again, shaking his head. "Come on Feli, how old are you? Don't worry, big brother is coming." "Good! It's the bathroom nearest to the gate, half way down the hall." Lovino turned and sure enough, there was a rather long, dark hall, not 20 feet away. "Yeah I see it. Halfway?" He turned and started trudging towards the entry way. "Yep!"

The hallway itself wasn't terribly menacing. Painted a robin's egg blue with a white stripe along the bottom and wider one halfway up, it matched the rest of the airport's décor just fine. But it seemed so dark. None of the lights were on, even though there were plenty in the ceiling, leaving a kind of swirling darkness that seemed to eat up all the light. Even the light streaming in from the large glass windows facing the runway, and the dawn itself wasn't enough to even reach the end of the hall, leaving it pitch black.

As soon as he entered the hall, he felt a sharp chill go through him, rattling him so hard he almost dropped his phone. "D-damn! Someone needs to turn down the air!" Lovino stammered. He kept walking forward, almost reluctantly, dragging his feet. "Feliciano, still there?" he mumbled into his phone, looking for some reassurance. "Yes. You're almost there." Feli sounded almost robotic now, chilling Lovino even further. "Feli... are you okay?" Ahead of him he saw the door at last, halfway down the hall. But it wasn't marked as a toilet. It wasn't marked as anything. He turned his head back and forth, looking around. It was the only door halfway down the hall. The rest were at the very end. "Feli probably got lost like the idiot he is and messed himself before he could find a toilet." He tried to shake the creeping feeling he was getting and reached for the knob.

Before he touched it, a thought hit him like a bolt of lightning. He snatched his hand away and backed from the door quickly, bumping the wall behind him. He felt a cold sweat break out, pricking him like millions of needles. Like a reflex his hand wandered up his neck to the golden chain that hung from it. Pulling it out of his shirt and grasping the crucifix tightly he stared hard at the door. How the hell did Feliciano get all the way through the security check points, and into his gate without a ticket? The idiot couldn't have stumbled his way through all that security. He felt the darkness pushing down on him as he stared at the door, holding his breath as the voice came through on his phone once more. "Brother? Why are you just standing there? Come in..." Lovino couldn't tear his eyes away from the door. As he lifted his phone to his ear, he felt a bead of sweat slide down his face. He took a deep breath and said, slowly, "Chi sei?"

Silence.

"Chi sei tu, maledizione?! Where's my brother?!" Lovino shouted at the door, his hand grasping his phone now dropped at his side. "Brother..." someone said, using his brother's voice. The voice wasn't coming from his phone anymore. It was right in front of him. The doorknob rattling snapped him out of his trance. As it began to turn he quickly turned away and scrambled down the hallway. Before he made it to the end, he heard the long creak of the door opening completely and a soft voice called after him. "Brother~ hehehe..." It wasn't his brother's voice anymore. It sound awful and sinister, chilling him to the bone.

It wasn't until he was completely away from the hallway, on the other side of the gate and surrounded by other passengers that he dared turn back. The hallway as he remembered it was gone. In it's place was a short, brightly lit hall with people streaming in and out. "Dio mio..." he gasped, backing up against the far wall, earning him concerned glances. 'Where the hell had I just been?!' Lovino shouted in his head, gripping his shoulders and squatting down, trying to physically keep a grip on his sanity. He didn't know how long he sat there, fighting back tears before his phone buzzed. His eyes went wide, not daring to move. He cautiously looked at the phone he still held in his hand. Feliciano.

He let it go, but he wasn't going to sit there any longer either. He grabbed his bag roughly and walked quickly to baggage claim, hoping to leave what ever the hell just happened behind him.

…...

A/N

Yay! No one died!

I was hoping someone might be interested in acting as my editor? All they'd really have to is read over my chapter before I post it and offer some input. (Point out misspellings, redundancies, contradictions, plot holes, poorly written characters, redundancies, things like that.) Message me if you're interested!


	5. Ruined Reunions

Lovino really just wanted to go home.

"Brother~!" Feliciano cried with joy, wrapping his arms around Lovino tightly and crying into his chest. "I missed you so, so much!" He sobbed. Lovino was knocked off balance, stumbling backwards into Feliciano's solid meat wall of a friend, Ludwig. Ludwig made a noise and his face flushed, but he reached out and grabbed Lovino's shoulder to keep him from falling over. "Hey! Stop squeezing me to death! It was only 2 weeks, dammit. And you, don't blush like that you creep." He pointed accusingly at Ludwig, causing the rather large teenager to cough into his hand and mumble an apology before shuffling away from the brother's reunion. Lovino couldn't exactly say he was surprised at his brother's reaction, Sine their grandfather had moved back to Italy, they lived alone. He wasn't exactly crazy about leaving Feli alone in the first place, and he did miss his annoyingly affectionate brother, but still, they were in public. He brother's grip loosened and Feli lifted his head, resting his chin on Lovino's chest to look up at him. Pale but still flushed from crying, a huge grin but he had bags under his eyes. Lovino took Feli's face in his hands and tilted it up, then left and right. "You look terrible you know. Have you not been sleeping?" Feli looked away mumbling something about school before looking back and putting a hand over Lovino's on his cheek. "But you're back now and I think that's all that matters!" He laughed and hugged his brother again, without the vice grip this time.

Lovino put his arms around his brother, resting his head on Feli's shoulder and letting out a long sigh. "Yeah, I'm glad to be back too," he mumbled into his little brother's hair and rubbing circles on Feliciano's back comfortingly. After a moment Ludwig came back and smiled at him, pointing at the doors. He pulled back and patted his brother on the shoulder awkwardly, blushing and looking away. "Well, let's get home bastard." Feliciano paled suddenly and looked at him with what almost looked like shock. Ludwig had the same look. Lovino looked between them, caught off guard. "What? What is it?" "Well, I-I was hoping we could sleep over at Luddy's tonight!" Feli smiled, trying to keep a straight face though he honestly looked like he might start crying again.

Lovino gave him a level, annoyed look. A hiss escaped his mouth as stared Feliciano and Ludwig in the eyes the best he could. "Nooo..." He let the word out long and slow, trying to make it as harsh as possible, dripping with malice. That German bastard's house was the last possible place on Earth he would ever want to rest his vulnerable sleeping form. Between that stuck up brick wall and his overbearing brother, that place was a living nightmare.

Feli fidgeted, playing with his hands and looking away as he moved closer to Ludwig. "We can't go back," he whispered harshly, "We don't know if that thing is still there."

Lovino still heard him, though he wished he hadn't. _"That thing."_

He was forced to recall his experience just 30 minutes before, raising the hair on his neck and involuntarily grinding his teeth. His eyes darted between them as the memory sent hard shivers down his spine. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, staring at the floor and trying to steady himself. He didn't want to think about what he might have seen. What might have _happened._

Ludwig mumbled something back to Feli, he couldn't quite make it out but Lovino wasn't really listening anymore. He felt his heart pounding as he glanced back at them, between hurried whispers about what to do and how stubborn Lovino is, his mind was blurred with memories of the darkness and that awful door. What happened to Feliciano when he was home alone? He almost certainly didn't want to fuck around with whatever was going on.

"Listen dammit!" he suddenly shouted, causing both of them to jump with a start. "I-I don't really fucking care where we go, I just want to sleep in a bed for the first time in 3 damn days!" Feliciano perked up immediately and Ludwig let out a long sigh. "Okay, fratello!" Running up and grabbing his hands, Feliciano was suddenly as bubbly as ever. "Let's go! We brought your car, just like you asked!" "You didn't let that Bicep drive it, did you?" Romano mumbled as Feli led him away, leaving Ludwig behind to gather his suitcases.

Lovino let his head rest on the soft tan leather of his headrest for a few moments, closing his eyes and massaging his temples as he let the car run in Ludwig's garage a little longer.

The garage door had already been opened, waiting for them. Feli and the Meathead had both fallen asleep on the drive, lulled to sleep by his purring red Jaguar during the 30 minute drive.

A 21st birthday present, he'd been shocked speechless when his Nonno drove it into his drive grinning ear to ear. It wasn't Italian, but hey, Jaguar. He had a sneaking suspicion Feliciano might get one better, though. _Lamborghini _better.

He grimaced, opening his eyes against the bright morning light and turned to look at his little brother, curled up against the window snoring softly. His gaze softened a bit as he remembered how Feli looked earlier, exhausted and pale, almost sick. He almost did the speed limit the whole way back, just so he could rest. (He always thought the speed limit was just a helpful suggestion for slow ass people in American cars, and treated it as such.) Looking back at Ludwig, the boy was leaned against the window in the seat behind Feliciano sitting almost upright and breathing evenly, as if he was concentrating deeply. "Creepy," Lovino mumbled, turning back.

He turned the key down, shutting off the car and causing them to stir, their lullaby now over. "We're here," he smiled, patting Feliciano's shoulder and smacking Ludwig's freakishly hard thigh. "Gah!" he yelped, snatching his hand back, staring at Ludwig's legs as the larger boy sat up and began stretching slightly. 'Was this kid carved from a mountain or something?!' Lud eyed him with a smirk, "Are you okay?" he said with a playful grin. "_Vaffanculo!_ You could have broken my hand, dammit! Fuck!" Lovino growled, holding his hand against his chest and Feliciano began giggling. Suddenly, the garage door beside Feliciano's window burst open, causing them all to jump and stare in alarm as another muscular teenager rushed towards them, practically throwing himself on the hood of Lovino's car. "I thought I heard a potty mouth out here!" Gilbert grinned, waving at them through the windshield. He wasn't even dressed yet, running around in boxers and a tight grey t-shirt as he attempted to climb across the hood to Lovino's side. "Off! Get off my fucking car, you shit head!" Lovino screeched, leaning out his window and swatting at the approaching danger, but Gilbert made it across, reaching through his window and hugging the man tightly. "Man, I missed you! Feli too, he's been such a wreck without his big bro! Luddy's the same way y'know."

As Lovino spit fire, hissing and clawing at Gilbert like a rabid animal, Feliciano and Ludwig climbed out of the car on the other side laughing. "Fratello, the boot!" Feli giggled, as his brother was practically dragged out the window. "Let me go, dammit, before I throw up! You smell like Axe and death!" Lovino hissed, his face bright red as he swatted Gilbert away. Gil laughed obnoxiously, letting him drop. "Okay, okay!" Lovino grumbled Italian of questionable camaraderie, glaring at Gilbert as he released the boot of the car. Feliciano grabbed Lovino's new leather bag eagerly before darting inside, grinning madly.

"Mine!" he shouted over his shoulder, leaving Ludwig behind, bewildered. "OY!" Lovino shouted, climbing through the car and out the passenger side, after Feli, "That cost more than your whole wardrobe!" "Hey!" Feliciano shouted back from further inside the house, insulted. A dirty lie, of course. Either Feli's or his wardrobe was easily worth a down payment on a house. Lovino followed him into the house, and screaming/giggling shortly followed, leaving Ludwig to shake his head. His brother laughed as they carried the bags inside together.

They found the brothers in the living room, Feli curled up on the couch, clutching the bag to his chest as Lovino tickled him relentlessly on his sides making gasp with laughter. "Don't you regret what you did?" Lovino grinned, reaching under him to Feli's stomach making him kick and squeal. "Why don't you quit while you're ahead and I'll only feed you _half_ a jar of Marmite. "I give up!" Feliciano gasped, shoving the bag at Lovino as tears ran down his face. Lovino, still grinning, held the bag above his head in victory as Feli kept giggling from the couch, now completely exhausted.

"I knew you could be cute, Lovi!" Gilbert laughed, dropping several of Lovino's suitcases onto the ground nearby. Lovino spun around and stared at them in horror, dropping his arms and clinging his bag to his chest. "Wh-what are you babbling about?!" he stammered, Lovino's face a hot red color, "I wasn't gonna, I mean, I-I.. Where the fuck is your shower!?" Feli sat up quickly, grabbing one of Lovi's arms and pulling him down to his level, almost knocking him off his feet. "I know where it is! Let's go shower together!" he exclaimed, smile unwavering. Gilbert raised an eyebrow, a pink blush starting across his face.

Lovino noticed this and managed to blush harder. Snatching his arm away he huffed, "I'll shower by myself, dammit!"

Feliciano held his brother's hand with what could only be described as a death grip as they made their way down the upstairs hall. "Are you sure you want to shower alone?" Feli said sternly, stopping and catching Lovino off guard. He was looking seriously at him, as much as Feli could, anyway. Lovino knitted his brows, feeling a bit worried for a second until taking his free hand and putting it over Feli's. He looked back and said and calmly as he could, "Yes, dammit."

He then pulled his normally feckless brother into a small hug, and patted his back. "Listen, I'll be out in a few minutes." Feliciano smiled and hugged him back tightly, then pointed at the door behind Lovino. "This is the bathroom. It was remodeled pretty recently but... Well, the fixtures are very nice!" Lovino huffed. He could hardly wait to see this. The Muscle Brothers idea of interior design. "It couldn't be worse than this hall," he spat, eying the brown and orange geometric carpet. "Yeah... I'll be in the room down the hall," Feli smiled once more before walking away. Lovino watched him until he turned into a room then turned back to the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open.

His eyes went wide, shocking him as he stumbled backwards, a shaking hand reaching up quickly to cover his mouth. "_Cristo Santo..." _It wasn't just bad, it was _awful._

The rather spacious room was tiled with a solid black, imitation marble tile laid with black grout, that matched the hideous swamp green wallpaper perfectly. There was a large mirror installed over the large, tan colored plastic basin of the sink set on a incredibly dark stained walnut cabinet which was reflected in a wall of mirrors on the other side. Polished brass accents and fixtures glittered all over the otherwise incredibly dark room."Ugh," he stood quickly on his tired legs, locking the door and walking quickly over to the lonely shower positioned on the far side of the room. He was eager to get this over with. It was a single unit shower and bath, with an unfrosted sliding glass door that had almost 2 feet of clearance form the ceiling. He rolled his eyes. It probably barely reached over that bear Ludwig's head. He tossed his towel over the door, extra protection from anyone who decides to barge in, undressed quickly, then reached into the shower to turn it on as hot as he thought he could stand. He held his hand under the water, thanking God quietly for the amazing shower head. The fixtures _were_ quite nice.

Soon he was able to step in and immediately set about his washing. He couldn't help but stand there for a few minutes under the almost rainstorm's worth of hot water falling on him. '_What a great shower..." _he mumbled, turning his head a bit to get all sides, when he noticed something through the condensation on the shower glass.

Under the towel that he had hung over the door. Legs.

He was startled a bit by it, then annoyed. He sighed and said sharply, "Feli, I said I wanted to be alone." Blinking the water out of his eyes he wiped away the mist on the door. He bit his tongue hard as he looked out.

The legs were sickly pale and thin, bowed and twisted toward each other with the toes gnarled and deformed, curling under the long foot. His eyes moved up the ugly calves as he dug his nails into his palms, the knees hitting just under the towel. Whoever, _whatever_, this was, had to be tall enough to see over the..

Lovino felt all his blood drain out of him. He froze as he felt a wave of sickness wash over him. He tasted bile as he opened his trembling mouth. "Over the... over the..." he mumbled, shaking hard as his heart pounded in his chest. His eyes moved up. The last thing he saw was pure black, glassy eyes gazing down at him from under a dangled mess of hair, before everything went dark.

A/N-

Lovino is a drama queen.

I do not love this chapter, but I've been sitting on it way too long. I'll do ever better next time, I promise.

That bathroom is my bathroom. *Hangs head is shame* Though now I feel too psyched out to go in there right now...


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